There has been a trend towards the integration of single microfluidic elements such as microvalves and micropumps into complex microfluidic networks for highly parallel, miniaturized, and integrated chemical/biomedical processes. Successful examples include integrated microfluidic circuits, microfluidic processors, and microvalve arrays. Generally, fluidic manipulations in these devices are achieved by physical displacement/deflection of an array of elastic structures using pneumatic, electrostatic or thermal pneumatic actuation. Pressure channels or electrical lines are used to deliver actuation signals to individual units in the array. The integrated devices therefore require a large number of external supporting equipments, such as solenoid valves and tubing connections as well as electrical modules and associated multiplexing programs. Also, these peripherals cannot scale down accordingly with the microfluidic chip. They consume considerable space and limit the use for portable applications. Therefore, a microfluidic platform with simple actuation and multiplexing mechanism would be desirable for microfluidic integration.